NextGenNow has built its programming and direction around three primary platform pillars: Education & Awareness, Harmony through Diversity, and Sustainable Communities
I. Education & Awareness
As followers of one of the world’s oldest religions, each one of us holds a responsibility for clearly articulating the fundamental tenets of our religion. Our personal relationship with Zarathushti education extends from an early age at youth camps to high school or university environments. In our adult lives, we work, study, and live in a cosmopolitan melting pot. Education takes on new meaning, as we share our religion and who we are with friends, neighbors, colleagues, and most important with children and young people seeking guidance. Only through education can we perpetuate our shared Parsi or Persian cultural celebrations, foods and languages. At the community level, we are increasingly more responsible for accurately portraying our story as a religious community in North America.
II. Harmony Through Diversity
Our North American Zarathushti communities are a milieu of diverse ideas and views that ultimately shape the perception of the community by the community at large. How can we achieve a perfect nirvana state in which our communities are more united, harmonious, and respectful of the views of others? NextGenNow is committed to exploring the dynamics of our diversity, identifying specific challenges confronting our North American Zarathushti communities and proposing ways in which we can achieve harmony through a better understanding and respect for one another.
III. Sustainable Communities
As we continue to explore and define our Zarathushti interconnectedness, our North American communities have reached a crossroads in which young and emerging communities have spawned, thanks largely to the experience, learning and guidance of the founding generation. What challenges and expectations can the next generation expect over the next 20 years? How can we more effectively transition our maturing communities to a new generation of leadership?
